I'm sorry for the wait my beloved readers, I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much (or more) as I enjoyed writing it!!

I decided to make Sasuk's feelings evolve, and so, most of the chapter will be focussing on him! Also, I made him apologise to little Kyuuki-chan... the outcome of it you will have to read!! XD

And I also inserted our dearest Hokage and Kazekage, they're on their way!!

Please let me know what you think, reviews are very much apreciated!! so please, pleeeeeasseeeee Review!!

Anyway, read and enjoy!!

Chapter 17

He wondered when he had become so pathetic (at least in his opinion). He wondered why it had come to the point where he wanted to let everything fall apart so he could have a little bit of, he didn't even ask for happiness, contentment with life would be more than enough.

But nothing ever came, because Kami-sama (the real one, not himself) seemed to not like him. It was like he was doomed to do great things, but when it came to happiness, he could just watch others from the sidelines. He didn't have happiness. He would never have it. Because he didn't deserve it.

Let's say that, hypothetically, he had made the right choices to have some happiness, would it have been a happiness like the one that often plagued his dreams since years ago until now?

Would he be living somewhere with her? Would they be married? Would they have children? Would she cook for him? Would she… love him?

Because he wanted to be with her… he wanted her, to be with her, to touch her, to hear her voice, her laugh, to see her smile at him, to be touched by her, to kiss her… he wanted her body, her heart and her soul.

He knew he was being greedy… and selfish, but he wanted her all to himself, and everyone else could just watch from the sidelines as they lived their own happiness.

But that would never happen.

But still… he couldn't help himself but to ask these questions, stupid question, that he knew had no answer to be given. Would they have children? Would she cook for him? Or would he cook for her? Because he wanted kids with her, one or a lot didn't matter. Because even if she wouldn't cook for him, out of laziness, stubbornness or just because she didn't knew how, he would cook for her, and it wouldn't bother him at all, because he would do it for her, and that was enough reason for him to want to do it.

Did she even think of him? Of what had happened on her 19th birthday? Or had she forgotten those memories, shoved them aside not to be remembered again?

… he didn't want her to… he hoped with all he had she hadn't, because… he wanted her to remember, because it had been something… that he couldn't describe with words.

She had tasted so good, those pink lips of her… even if he had listened to every single word she had said, her lips, moving with each word, had captured his attention, tempting him, taunting him to just lean in and press them to his own. And oh… she was so intoxicating. They had been sitting on the sand and she had only been in her underwear, but that hadn't mattered, because she had been in his arms, and after crying silently for a few moments, it had happened, the kiss. It had been chaste, delicate even, and she had blushed prettily, and he knew that (even if he didn't like it) he had lightly blushed too. The moment he had touched those full (perfect) pink lips of hers, it was like lightning had flashed and hit him, because it felt so good, and his skin tingled, and his lips felt like they were on fire.

And then there were her eyes. Sparkling emerald green eyes. Those pools of emotions in which he could just loose himself freely and not care about anything else. Her eyes were what made him feel heavy every time something happened and he saw those eyes, because he could see all the emotions she was feeling, he could read her like and open for consultation book. And he hated those eyes, so much, because they would glisten when she was about to cry, and that made it all the more difficult to look away and not run his fingers near them to take the tears away. But then, he loved those eyes too, because even when she was hurt, when he hurt her, there were always those emotions that he dared not mention, those emotions she felt for him and him alone.

Her hair… oh Kami, her hair. It was the most pleasant thing he had ever had the pleasure to touch. It was soft and silky, and his fingers ran through it so freely, as if he was running his fingers through water. It was addictive, because he could just run his fingers though her hair forever and never get tired of it, because it felt so good, either dried or wet, it was still the most pleasant thing he had ever touched. And it smelled so nice too, it wasn't an essence like chocolate or coffee, it was something he couldn't describe, it was… putting it simply, it smelled like her.

And also, she had been so soft, her skin was like silk, and the water around them had only made it all the more pleasant. Her peachy skin, glowing beautifully and putting the beauty of the moon in shame, had been so… so… delicate and soft and… he loved it, because he would never (ever) get tired of seeing that peachy skin, or of touching it, feeling it, smelling it. He would never get tired of it, and it wasn't just soft and silky to the touch, it tasted good too, and even if her lips were addicting, her skin was too, and he had been so pleased with himself when he had seen the small (or not that small) marks he had made on that pure skin. He had marked her, and she should have know at that moment that she was his, and he would not admit it that others males did the same to her.

Her essence was something he could never forget, because she tasted just like she smelled, not sweet, not bitter, just in between. It wasn't something that could be said in words, but, trying, he would say, maybe, that she tasted and smelled like vanilla and peppermint. Not too sweet. Not too bitter. Just perfect. Just like he imagined her to smell and taste.

There had also been her hands running over his body. Her feather light touches haunted him, because they left his skin burning and craving for more of her touches. And then her feather light touches had changed, turning into her hands pressing against his skin, her nails digging into his shoulders until he had felt blood. That had been when they had— many people would have said had sex, but it hadn't been sex, sex was a word used to characterise something purely lustful, and what had happened between them wasn't just about lust, so he called what had happened making love (He was just like his mother, a hopeless romantic, although he didn't show it). She was the human form of a goddess. He was the one called Kami-sama, but she was the one who deserved such honourable title.

He sighed and turned on his side, the bed was soft and he would have slept just fine, if it wasn't for the feelings that were plaguing his mind, making insomnia settle and prevent him from resting.

How he longed- no, craved to have her in his arms again, to be able to touch her, feel her, see her, kiss her, hug her, be touched, be felt, be seen, be kissed and be hugged by her. How he craved to have a taste of her skin again- of her lips. How he craved to see her smile, to hear her laugh, to see her blush. But most of all, he craved to hear those words. Those words she only pronounced to him, that he had answered back to that night.

I love you. Aishiteru.

I love you. Aishiteru.

I love you. Aishiteru.

I love you. Aishiteru.

Was it too much to ask?

Of course it was, she probably hated his guts by now.

Nooo, he couldn't have just walked up to her and asked for explanations, he had to go and execute one of his genius plans, kidnapping her children to make her suffer. Well, his genius plan was backfiring, and as much as he didn't like it, it was done, and he had do deal with it.

He couldn't just have bough some flowers, a box of chocolates or maybe given her this whole damn village, noooo, he just had to go and do great (wrong) things because he was too blind to see ahead of his… of his… of his…

He turned back to the ceiling and threw the sheets away from his body.

He had been too blind to see ahead of his… of his… of his fucking heartbreak.

"You're making a mistake Sasuke, you should think before you do anything." But he just had to ignore his older brother, the one that, as it turns out wasn't a bad guy, only made himself seem like one so he (his little brother) wouldn't suffer and would be a hero by killing the murderer of an entire clan.

He got up from the bed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

The only thing he had wanted was a family, and now he had nothing. Sure, he had a village, but that wasn't what he wanted.

He walked to the window and let his forehead lean against the cool glass.

He wanted her. Her and only her.

It would be enough for him.

If he had her, he wouldn't care if he just had a small house on some god forsaken place far away from all the shinobi world.

He really wouldn't care, because he only needed her.

Only her.

Only her.

Only her.

He closed his eyes and refused to give in to the pain, he was strong, and he'd rather suffer on the inside and seem stoic on the outside than the other way around.

"Sakura…" he mumbled softly.

He needed her, because she was what kept him sane.

"Ne, Aniki, why did you give onee-chan flowers?" the small boy asked his older brother. The taller boy looked up from his book and raised a brow but remained silent. The smaller boy glared, but it was quite half-hearted.

"Ne, I saw you giving her flower because I wanted to see you train and then I followed you and I saw you and onee-chan." The older boy frowned and was about to speak, when the smaller boy's face turned into big puppy dog eyes and a fearful pout.

"Ne, Aniki." The small boy spoke quietly. "Are you mad?" the older boy sighed and motioned for his little brother to sit next to him. The small boy eagerly crawled over the wooden floor of the outdoors corridor until he was sitting next to his brother. His eyes were shining in eagerness.

"I'm not mad Sasuke." the older boy said quietly and ruffled Sasuke's hair while leaning back against the wall. "But you shouldn't follow me around, next time ask me." The small boy nodded and leaned against his brother.

"Why did you give onne-chan the flowers Aniki?" Itachi sighed again and looked up at the sky.

"You give nice things to the people you like." Sasuke tilted his head in thought.

"Like to Kaa-chan?" Itachi smiled faintly.

"Yes, but in a different way."

"Eh…"Sasuke was quiet for a while. "What's the different way?" the small boy looked up and Itachi sighed again.

"It's someone special to you, someone you don't want to loose and want to be with forever." Sasuke nodded.

"Do you like one-chan like that?" Itachi looked down at his brother and smirked lightly, his hand reached up and he poked his brother's forehead.

"I'll tell you some other time." The small boy pouted while nursing his forehead.

He really was pathetic. What was he? Some freakin' idiot? Was he expecting forgiveness from her?

He was so pathetic.

He let out a frustrated breath and looked at the small lump in the bed. He had finally managed (how he had no idea) to stop thinking about a certain pin haired woman, but he still wasn't pleased.

"Damn it." now he had someone else to worry, the small girl he had probably scared at dinner (way to go genius). And it bothered him that it bothered him that she had run to Deidara for comfort.

"Fuck." He hadn't used such a colourful language in quite a while, at least when it came to woman and kids.

He gripped the object in his hand tighter and walked to the bed where he knew tha small girl was sleeping.

Why was he doing this again? He kept telling himself that it was just to piss Deidara off on the long run, but it didn't sound truthful, not even to him. But he still kept telling himself that it was true.

He bent stopped next to the girl and ran a finger over her hair, moving a strand away from her eyes.

For his surprise, the girl bolted upright and backed away from him holding the covers close to her body.

In the darkness he knew she couldn't see him, but she looked scared. He reached out for her, and when he touched her, she whimpered and shied away, holding the covers even closer.

Nice, now he didn't feel bothered about it, he felt guilty as well.

Taking the object he had been holding he put it in her hands (she whimpered at the touch, again).

She was trembling, holding the object unsurely, and he decided to turn the light in the nightstand on.

The moment the lights were on and she saw him a sob escaped her lips and she shied away even more, letting go of what he had put in her hands.

He sighed and sat down next to her, his hands reaching for the covers and then taking them lightly away from her body.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He whispered (why was his throat so dry all of a sudden?) and touched her face, cupping her cheek and making her face him.

She was about to cry, and her eyes were too much like Sakura's for his own sake (yes, his), not because of the colour, but because he could see right through them, see all of the emotions.

"I… hm… brought you something." He whispered lamely (at least for him, the girl probably didn't notice). He held the object he had been carrying to her, again, and waited for her to look down.

Her eyes slowly travelled down to the object on his hand, and the fear in her eyes disappeared (thankfully).

"Thank you Kami-sama."

"F-for m-me?" she asked slowly, in a whisper, and he nodded. She looked up, her eyes hopeful? "Really?" he nodded again and held the object closer to her. She looked back down and slowly reached it with her small hands.

When she took hold of it, he let go and watched as she examined it.

"It looks like Daddy!" she exclaimed quietly, and he felt something constrict inside of him, painfully. After her previous remark she hugged the small doll to her chest and he let out a small smile seeing her smile (what was it with him and smiles?).

"I'm sorry… about, hm, being mean." He mumbled the words, looking away from the girl, he was never good with apologies.

The small girl crawled closer to him and them hugged him, her new plushie doll still in her hand (he remembered Sakura offering him that plushie doll for his 12th birthday, it was a small doll that she had made of himwhite short, weapons pouch, navy blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol, hitai-ate and spiky hair included, surprisingly realistic at that, at the time he had ignored it and put it aside, but he had kept it safe from everything since she had given it to him. He had always known she was the regular fangirl, if she was she wouldn't have given him his plushie, she would have given him her, the one that represented her).

"Kaa-chan says it's not good to be mad at people." The girl stated and looked up at him. "She says that you should smile instead of being angry." The girl grinned at him and he couldn't help but to smile at the girl and huge her back.

"I'm glad." He whispered and took in a deep breath. She really was a good mother. He looked back down at the girl and then lifted her up, to then lay her down on the bed.

"But now go to sleep." The girl nodded and curled into a ball, the plushie doll being held close to her body. He covered her and was about to walk away when she spoke, and he stopped (why couldn't he ignore like he did to everyone else?).

"Ne, Dei-nii-chan always kisses us good night." The small girl mumbled sleepily. He hesitated but bent down nonetheless, kissing the girls forehead and then running his fingers through her hair once again, moving it out of her face.

"Goodnight." The girl snuggled, already going into dreamland.

As he walked out of the room he missed the words she mumbled before going into deep slumber.

"Goodnight daddy…"

This is troublesome."

"Will you shut up with it already."

"You're troublesome Ino."

"Seriously, if you don't stop with the troublesome I'm gonna punch you."

"You're tr-"

"Whoa, whoa, guys, calm down." He sweat dropped at the 2, even after separating their own ways, they still bickered to no end. Shikamaru sighed and mumbled another 'troublessome'; which got him a whack on the head from Ino. He sighed again, but this time said nothing.

The group was sitting on a clearing around a small fire they had started, they had a couple of calm walk before reaching the Rain border, and they had time to reach it.

In agreement, they (Naruto and Gaara) had decided that Sai would stay in Konoha (the artist nin wasn't that pleased, but he had had to obey, since it had been orders of the Hokage) and they had gathered 4 strong shinobi. Since there wasn't time to go to Suna to get Suna nins, they had settled for Konoha ones.

Shikamaru had been a must for his strategic mind (so he was kinda married to temari, but they lived in Konoha for 6months and in Suna for the remaining 6, it had been established that way since none wanted to leave their home village).

When the words 'Sakura' and 'trouble' had been mentioned, Ino had made herself invited, and no one had been able to get her away, so they had just settled for letting her come, and she was strong (all of it because she was Sakura's best friend).

Then they had brought Neji, he was also a must for his Byakugan and skills (not much to add for him, except that he had seemed worried for a few seconds before his calm façade had came back).

And then they had hesitated, would they bring Kakashi, Yamato, Lee, Kiba, Shino or Chouji? (everyone else was kinda busy) they had decided that Lee was out of the equation, he was too much like Gai for everyone's own good, and his speeches about youth were really annoying. Shino had declined politely since he had had matters to attend for his clan, so he had been out. Chouji, since he kinda still ate too much had been left out, because they didn't need him whining about not having any chips while they travelled (Ino had been the one to refuse he come).

Kakashi had been worried, but Naruto had decided that his sensei would stay in his place and attend to the village, and seeing as the man was known for tardiness and laziness (out of missions of course) Yamato had stayed to help.

So there had been Kiba left in the picture, but the boy hadn't been able to come, seeing as Akamaru was sick, and without his dog, Kiba really was a sulking gaki.

So everyone had been stuck, until Hinata (who Naruto refused to take because it could turn dangerous, and he didn't want her to get hurt, that and the fact that she was 4 months pregnant.) had quietly suggested Tenten. Neji had been apprehensive, but he had agreed nonetheless, knowing the abilities his lover to-be-wife (he was a stubborn man, and until he had been able to propose to her, it had been a while, so now they were 8 months engaged, it had been decided that the marriage would be when all of their friends could attend).

And so, the group had been made. The Kazekage and Hokage's escorts were Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino.

Not a bad combination.

"So, Naruto, what's really going on? And why are we going to Rain to get Sakura? Wasn't she supposed to be in Suna?" Naruto was taken aback by so many questions at one, especially since he didn't have all the answers.

"Well, why don't you ask Gaara, he knows more than I do." He defended himself with the last statement, because the blond was about to bombard him with another load of questions.

Ino looked over at the brooding Kazekage and scratched her head, to then look over at Shikamaru.

"Let's go get more wood for the fire lazyass." She ordered as she got up.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and got up as well, he wasn't in the mood to hear her rant and blabber, she ranted and blabbered too much anyway. As he walked behind her he took the cigarette pack from his pocket and took one out, as well as the lighter.

"Troublesome." He mumbled before putting the cigarette in his mouth and taking a long swig of it.

He exhaled the smoke in a sigh and followed the blond woman into the woods, she just wanted to get away from the camp before Gaara said anything to her, because boy, the Kazekage wasn't in a good mood these days, and he had a way to be ruthless with the most innocent word.

I hoe you liked this chapter!!

This story is probably reaching and end, but worry not, everything between everyone will be cleared out, the truth will come out!

Please review and give me your opinions, it's always good to hear (read) the opinion of other people, it helps me improve!!

Since I don't know what to write anymore (damn, i'm out of rambling material... --'), I'll just say until the next chapter!!

Oh, you can always add me on MSN if you want, it's always a pleasure to talk with new people!! My e-mail's on my profile!!

So... without further ado, since now I'm really out of rambles (--')

Love you all so very much,

Kimi-chan!!